Draper Peter, Brocklehurst Hilary
Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, UK.
J Clin Nurs. 2007 Feb;16(2):264-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01575.x.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of stroke on the patient's spouse, paying particular attention to psychiatric morbidity and the strain of caring, and correlating these with the degree of disability of the patient. The impact of impairment of speech was also investigated.
The impact of a stroke is not limited to the person who suffers it but also to the family, with the patient's spouse being particularly vulnerable. The literature suggests that the consequences for the spouse can be physical, psychological, economic and social.
A quantitative approach was employed to investigate 44 couples who volunteered to participate in the study. A small battery of validated instruments was used to describe the patient's degree of disability, and psychiatric morbidity and the strain of caregiving in the spouse. Pearson's Correlation and Mann-Whitney U-test were used in data analysis.
The spouses were found to have a greater degree of psychiatric morbidity than a reference group and a large proportion of them found caregiving to be stressful. Psychiatric morbidity and strain in the spouses were not directly proportional to the extent of the patient's disability. Spouses whose partners' speech was affected by the stroke were more likely to experience strain than those who were unaffected in this way.
This study contributes to our knowledge of the relationship between patients' physical disability and the level of strain and psychiatric morbidity in spouses. The relationship is a complex one, in which it is not possible to predict with confidence which spouses will be most vulnerable.
Caring for a patient following a stroke is very stressful, particularly in cases where the patient's speech is affected and there is also likely to be a significant effect on the psychological well-being of the spouse. This information is relevant to all nurses caring for patients with stroke and the patients' spouses.
本研究旨在调查中风对患者配偶的影响，特别关注精神疾病发病率和护理压力，并将这些与患者的残疾程度相关联。同时还研究了言语障碍的影响。
中风的影响不仅限于患者本人，对其家庭也有影响，患者配偶尤其易受影响。文献表明，对配偶的影响可能体现在身体、心理、经济和社会等方面。
采用定量研究方法，对44对自愿参与研究的夫妇进行调查。使用一组经过验证的小型工具来描述患者的残疾程度、配偶的精神疾病发病率和护理压力。数据分析采用皮尔逊相关性分析和曼-惠特尼U检验。
发现配偶的精神疾病发病率高于参照组，且很大一部分人认为护理压力很大。配偶的精神疾病发病率和压力与患者的残疾程度并非直接成正比。配偶中，其伴侣的言语受中风影响的人比未受此影响的人更容易感到压力。
本研究有助于我们了解患者身体残疾与配偶的压力水平和精神疾病发病率之间的关系。这种关系很复杂，无法确切预测哪些配偶最易受影响。
照顾中风患者压力很大，尤其是在患者言语受影响的情况下，对配偶的心理健康也可能有重大影响。这些信息对所有护理中风患者的护士及患者配偶都有参考价值。
